[Miss Information]

So I went through our old VCR tapes, and most of them are ones we taped shows ourselves.

I have a bag of movies and such for donation, but obviously nobody is going to wants the tapes we recorded ourselves.

So what do I do with them. How do I get rid them safely?

 

[jrabbit]

they aren't technically recyclable, but there are proper ways to dispose of them. I've heard that there are businesses that erase and re-sell vhs tapes - but you'll need to search for them.

Greendisk.com - if you have a lot of home movies
http://www.greendisk.com/Pop-ups/Ite...ispose-of.html
You pay for shipping

http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2004/06/17/umbra-film/

craft!
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/0...n-evening-bag/

or freecycle! don't give up on the home-recordings yet!

 

[Miss Information]

Thanks much. It's a start. I'm probably going to go the Green Disk route. I just have to clear it with hubby. I don't want it in the trash, that's for sure.

 

[jrabbit]

just fyi ... your post got me motivated to purge our excess videos, and I confirmed with greendisk:

$6.95 for first 20#, then $.30 per pound, no apparent limit on the number of boxes: you ship it in your own boxes, after you've paid the processing fee. Yes, it's not free, but it really seems like the right thing to do, and it's not THAT expensive. I'm soliciting other parents that I know to collect as many tapes as we can, so we make the most of the fees.

They take: videos, cassette tapes, cd's, their plastic cases, (paper is recyclable locally), and a lot of other stuff, but mostly I'm interested in the outdated media.

 

[Miss Information]

jrabbit - thanks for the info. I will be gathering them up just have to find a box to ship in.

 

[tresleo]

Thanks for this.

We have two 55 gallon bins full of VHS tapes I didn't know what to do with.

 

[PassionateWriter]

i just donated 95 vhs tapes to our local library. they give receipts for tax purposes and value them at approx. $10 each. Not home movies of course but the ones that are regular vhs tapes.

 

[tresleo]

Most of mine don't have the boxes they came in though. Think they are still donate worthy?

 

[jrabbit]

ask! I doubt that the library will actually *use* them if they don't look nice.

Unfortunately, from what I've learned from the past 6 years owning a resale shop, I think that Passionate Writer and/or the library could get into a bit of trouble valuing the videos at that price, *if* anyone ever got audited. "Value" of used goods is subjective, but it is based on actual current market values for used goods, not new. And it really doesn't matter much if the video is Disney or whatever - it's still *just* a video.

Of course, I'm neither an accountant nor an IRS employee, but my "knowledge" is based on shared information from members of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. People have been known to get into a lot of trouble for overvaluing contributions, more recently, and more for stuff more valuable than a bunch of videos